BMW has released the first teaser images of its upcoming Megacity electric vehicle and also confirmed that not only will the body panels be formed from carbon fiber, but so will the structure. The Megacity will become the first high volume vehicle with this type of construction. Previously, carbon fiber structures have been limited to race cars and supercars like the McLaren F1 and the new MP4-12c.

BMW is taking advantage of the new flexibility afforded by the electric powertrain and batteries to totally repackage the Megacity and using the carbon fiber structure, it should be able to shed as much weight as possible. The Megacity will be powered by a motor with over 100 kilowatts, but its top speed will be limited to 93 miles-per-hour since the vehicle is designed mainly for urban use. Although the electric drive could push the Megacity to higher speeds, limiting the speed gives the engineers the ability to maximize efficiency and thus range.

When we first drove the Mini E in late 2008, we noted that BMW had programmed in much more regenerative braking when the accelerator is released than other electric cars. BMW is planning to stick with this strategy to effectively turn the Megacity into a one pedal car so that most normal braking is done just with the accelerator and the brake pedal will only be for emergency use. The Megacity vehicle goes on sale in 2013.